Some Democrats trying to reclaim the issue of faith from the Republican Party

Democrats Are Reclaiming the Faith Narrative in Key Midterm Battles

Tyunews.com – Since the 1980s, a steady migration of religiously motivated voters toward the GOP — described by one analyst as an “exodus” — gave Republicans a near-monopoly on the moral-issues electorate. That grip, however, is showing cracks in this cycle’s most decisive contests. Across several battleground states, Democratic candidates are stepping forward with their beliefs openly displayed, attempting to forge a bond with voters who have long been courted exclusively by the other party.

The Numbers Behind the Shift

A 2024 Pew Research survey underscores the terrain Democrats are trying to contest: among registered voters who attend worship services at least monthly, 62% leaned Republican, compared with 41% of those who attend less frequently. Voters with no religious affiliation, meanwhile, broke 70% to 27% in favor of Democrats. The gap between frequent attendees and the unaffiliated represents the space these candidates are trying to narrow.

Texas: A Seminarian Takes on the Attorney General

Perhaps the most consequential Senate contest for Democrats this year is in Texas, where state representative and seminarian James Talarico is challenging Republican nominee Ken Paxton, the state attorney general. Paxton’s record has been clouded by multiple scandals, most notably becoming the first Texas official impeached since 1917 — though the Texas Senate later acquitted him.

Talarico frames his candidacy around a theological ethic of neighborly love. Speaking at his “New American Dream Tour” rally in Pasadena, Texas, on August 9, 2026, he laid out his vision for the state’s political culture.

“I think in Texas, across the political spectrum, there is a deep hunger for a different kind of politics, not one that’s rooted in fear or hate or division, but one that’s rooted in love, and that old politics that we’ve been suffering under for the last 10 years — politics as bloodsport, as trolling and owning, as as total war — that, that politics is dying, and a new politics is being born.”

Kansas: The Largest Methodist Church’s Pastor Runs for Senate

In Kansas, Rev. Adam Hamilton, who leads the nation’s largest United Methodist congregation, has entered the U.S. Senate race. His presence on the ballot represents an unusually direct pipeline from the pulpit to the federal chamber, and his campaign has included listening tours aimed at ordinary voters.

Iowa: Faith as Political Identity

Iowa’s competitive races offer two distinct examples of candidates weaving theology into their platforms. In the gubernatorial contest, state auditor Rob Sands — a Lutheran — has tied his religious convictions to his Democratic identity, telling crowds on the trail that “Jesus is for the little guy.”

In one of the state’s most competitive House districts, Democratic state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, an ordained Lutheran minister, is seeking to unseat Republican incumbent Rep. Zach Nunn. Garriott, who has served in the state senate since 2021, spent nine years preaching on weekends for the Des Moines Area Religious Council (DMARC) Food Pantry Network, an interfaith nonprofit that feeds tens of thousands of people each month. Though she no longer holds that role, she continues to preach regularly, explaining that the practice helps her “stay grounded in what really, really matters.”

“My faith is not a campaign strategy. It’s just a really important part of who I am.”

Garriott credits her years as a religious leader with giving her an edge in tough statehouse elections, attributing her wins to being “really accessible to people.” She describes the call to “love my neighbor” as a principle that extends “even if they’re coming from a different place,” a framing she says helps her find common ground across ideological lines.

A Bridge, Not a Wall

For some elected officials, faith functions less as a wedge issue and more as connective tissue between officeholder and constituent. Sen. Raphael Warnock, who serves as senior pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church — the same congregation where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once served as co-pastor alongside his father — has described his faith as defining who he is. Warnock first demonstrated that model when he flipped a Republican-held Georgia seat in a special election, bringing a pastor’s voice to the Senate floor.